Pages

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Glazed Ham Steak à la Jacques Pepin

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It's that time of year. The days may be getting shorter but a glance at the calendar shows an inverse relationship between demands on your time and the number of hours in a day. Scientists have yet to determine how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but chances are you have the precise number at your fingertips. Family, work and community all have claimed your time and won't release their grasp until the holidays have passed and the new year wipes the ledger clean. So, you take a deep breath and soldier on, simplifying where you can and smiling where you can't. We all share the dilemma. I've found it helps to keep weekday meals as easy as is possible. This is the time of year I dig into the freezer for soups and stews or thumb through the recipes that simplified meals when I was still working. Today's recipe is an example of an old recipe that is given new life at this time of year. It is not gourmet fare but it was created by Jacques Pepin, a gourmet chef if ever there was one. I found the recipe in his The Short-Cut Book which was published in 1990. It is for a ham steak that can be on the table in 15 minutes. It gets no easier than that. If, by chance, you don't like the glaze featured here, substitute a favorite of your own. The occasional use of a ham steak for a quick meal is what I want to emphasize here and the Pepin recipe is a great way to illustrate that. I hope you'll give it a try.

Directions:1) Preheat broiler. Wrap some foil around a broiler pan and place ham steak on foil.2) Mix ketchup, brown sugar, hot sauce, and dry mustard until smooth. Brush on top of ham steak.3) Place pan about 5 inches from broiler element. Cook until sauce caramelizes and the ham is heated through, about 5 minutes. Yield: 3 servings.

My husband has "discovered" Jacques Pepin on our local PBS station and has done several of his recipes quite successfully. I'm going to pass this along to him. One would think I got my fill of ham while in Virginia but, no, I could eat it every day but would have to have a cardiologist on retainer!!

This is so off topic, but do you think the Crock-pot mushroom soup from Nov 5, 2009 could be 'assembled'the night before, and then cooked, or I guess I could cook it overnight and then reheat it. The recipes you post are really very exciting! Thank you, Lois.

This is great, Mary, I've avoided ham steaks because I grew up with a mom who made them all the time, and they were always completely plain, unless you count the canned pineapple rings she served with them ;) I'll give this one a try.

Would you believe I have never cooked ham? It just kind of scares me, that I can't get the whole one heated, that it won't really be pre-cooked, etc. I guess all the ham steaks in the store are pre cooked. So I rely on the kindness of strangers and restaurants. But maybe I will try this one, I used to watch Jacques Pepin many, many years ago. and this looks fast and easy.

I watch Jacques quite often, nearly daily, and enjoy his "Fast Food My Way." I would add just one thing to this recipe - poach the ham in boiled water off heat for 10minutes. Otherwise it is too salty.

Privacy Policy

This blog does not share personal information with third-parties nor does it store information about your visit for use other than to analyze content performance through the use of cookies, which you can turn off at anytime by modifying your Internet browser's settings. Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a a users prior visits to this website. Google's use of the DoubleClick cookie enables it and its partners to serve ads. This blog is not responsible for the republishing of the content found here on other Web sites or media without the owners permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice